Safety appliance.



E. T. EAVES.

SAFETY APPLIANCEt APPucArmN FILED FEB. 16.1916.

Pawmedsept. 17, 191B.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E. T. EAVES.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION min ri. le, 19:5.

Patented Sept. 1T, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mynamon` WITNESSES M EDGAR T. HAVES, QF RAWLINS. WYOMING.

` Amplic'atiun tiled Felzruary Toall wlw/ nit may concern:

fBe ituknown' that I, Liman I'. Imvrs. :l

switch points," m [msltlon dell talmin.

siding r dan detail perspective of one'f-thQ Speccation al` Ltters Patent.

" 11mm' eml u upon' their adjgcent faces,-

'SAFETY APPLmitici;`

lnivnlml Sept. TZL 19in.

23 su 'that they may bq' Secured tu the side walls ofthe liousin 1T uren 1 m1r`of lns'fnlutlng blocks 25 Wl1 l'c `:are arranged .1n minement-y and hav nml, they 10o" spaced Contact memalinenient the block mami ir, a plurality of bersl whichare arranged in with the contact members 24 upon 23. 'Ine/space ZG is slightly less than the distance between the outer edges of Ithe Contact members 9A when these members are in a normal position, that is to say, when thc arms thereof are in an outwardly sprun position, as illustrated in Fig. 1 ot' the c rawings.

. Thumb nuts 27 are threaded upon the contact members ZG and these thumb nuts are adapted to bind the ends of conducting wires 28 to the said members, the wires extending from each of these members being gathered together and passed through- 'an insulated openin in one end of the housing. The two sets o wires 28 extending from the two sets of Contact members 26 may have. any considerable source lof current interposed therein, and these wires are adapted to he connected to any suitable electrically opera-ted means for moving a danger signal 4or semaphore.

Arranged about the rod 2O and disposed between one end wall of the housing and the guide member 21 is an expansion helical springr Q9 which normally exerts a tension to move the block 23 toward the blocks 25. Hingedly mounted upon one end of the housing.l7, as at 30, is a cover 3l for the upper open edge of the housing, the said cover being proyided `with a husp 32 for engagement with'a staple whereby a'lock 34 may he utilizeid tf: preveraccess of unz'iuthorirzed persons to the interior of the housing. This cover together with the housing also serves to exclude dust, dirt, snow, rain or the like'from the operating parts of the device and thereby .insures of the same being in a position for eliir'ient operation at a'lt-in'ies.

From the structure described it will be noted that should-the switch points be moved to a position'as vshefvn in Fig. 3 of the drawing the block 23 will be moved toward the lilocks .25 the contact members 24, and 26 thereby being brought. into. enga-gement. Such engagement between these Contact members will close the circuit of the danger signal operating means and cause these meaiis -to be moved to a position to inform the operator of an approaching train that then-lain line track is not clr'ir. Thus, the

. dangersignal will be oper-ned upon each -legitimate operation of tlv, switch.

Should the switch operating means become broken or disabled in any-manner, the spring 29 will move theA switch pointsl to an open po- 'sition and also move the contact members 24 into engagement with the Contact mernl bers 2,6 so that a person Will be instantly in'-v between the Contact members' .of said blocks",

formed upon glancing at the dangerl signal4 that the switch is open or broken.

Oftentimes due to the wear of the switch i operating 'means the switch oints d o not Contact firmly ,with the rails w en the switch is swung to either an' open or closedv position.' In order to'providevrneans whereby the danger signal will be displayed when the switch points extend beyond a predetermined distance in spaced relatie-,1 to the rails the turn buckle 1l has been IhLrmided. By loosening the nuts l2 this turn buckle may be adjusted so that the movement of the block 23 toward the blocks 25 necessary to cause the ,Contact members to engage may be varied. It will thus be seen that by adjusting this turn buckle the contact n'ieinbers 24 may be caused to engage with the contact members 26 upon the switch points being;` moved any predetermined distance awar' from the rail. i

F rom the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction and operation of the improved safety device may be clearly understood, and while I have herein shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereby, except for such limitations as the claim may import. v

A device as described, including a-casing,

insulating blocks secured tolopposite sides.

plurality of spaced contacts secured to each a rodmounted to slide throu 'l1 one end of said casing,'an insulating b ook carried by the inner end-of said rod, a plurality of yieldable spaced contacts carried by said block and adapted for interposition between said first mentioned blocks for engagement with the contacts arranged thereon, each of the contacts secured to the movable bar consisting of a sinUle piece of metal bent upon itself to providte substantially arrow shaped conta-cts and having the opposite arms thereof bowed outwardly in opposite directions so that said arms 'will be slightly compressed when inserted between' the contacts on the stationary block to be frictionally retained therebetween, and means for actuating the said rod for engaging and disengagingsaid nueable- 

